CARROLLTON, Ga. - A hot-shooting Lee men's basketball team jumped out to an early 18-2 lead against Lane College on Sunday afternoon in the final game of the annual University of West Georgia Classic, and then turned back several rallies by the club from Jackson, Tenn. before posting the 79-63 victory.
The Flames rebounded from a Saturday afternoon loss to Miles College and will take 1-1 record into next Saturday's home contest against Carver College. It will be the second half of a doubleheader. The Lady Flames open play at 5 p.m. against Bellarmine University. Both the Flames and Lady Flames are a part of the annual Jack Souther Classic.
Before pulling away to a 43-37 lead at the half, the Dragons of Lane College cut the Lee lead down to only one point and forced a timeout by Lee head coach Tommy Brown. Shooting certainly was not a problem for the Flames in the opening 20 minutes. They shot 50 percent from the field and made 6-of-7 3-point attempts in gaining the upper hand. The second-half shooting improved even more. Lee canned 13-of-22 shots from the field, a blistering 59 percent and finished the contest with a 54 percent mark. On the other hand, the Lee defense held Lane to just 29 percent from the floor in the second stanza.
The Flames were led by the all-out hustle of Keevin Tyus. He recorded a double-double, 18 points and 11 rebounds. For the second straight afternoon, CJ Reese took the ball to the hoop and knocked down 5-of-6 shooting attempts. However, he struggled at the free-throw line, knocking down just 4-of-10. The Lee newcomer finished the contest with 14 points. Jervon Johnson continued to be a master from behind the 3-point line. All his 12 points came on four treys. Bryce Copeland also converted three of his 3-point attempts and totaled nine points plus playing an all-around floor game. Cam Boyd came off the bench and canned a pair of important 3-pointers.
Lane got a double-double from a very aggressive Kedarius Ash. He poured in 18 points and grabbed 10 rebounds. James Caldwell added 12 points, while Malcolm McDonald finished with 11 points and seven rebounds. For the game, the Dragons shot 36 percent from the field, 31 percent from behind the arc but managed to convert 17-of-24 free throws.
The Flames won the rebounding battle 38-34 but it didn't come easy. Each missed shot turned out to be a battle of who would survive on the glass. Lee committed 11 turnovers in the second half and allowed the Dragons to stay close until a scoring explosion allowed Brown's unit to pull away down the stretch.
"Our overall effort was better this afternoon," commented the Lee coach after the victory. "Tyus gave us a second straight solid effort and I was really pleased with what Copeland gave us on both ends of the floor. He did a good job of getting our players in the right situations on the offensive end. It was an entirely different game than the one against Miles on Saturday. The Miles club was much faster and shot the ball well, while this was a much taller Lane club that we faced today. I'm pleased that we were able to come out on top in the rebounding battle. They threw a 6-foot-11 guy (Joseph Cooper) in there against us in the second half and we had not seen him before."
